Tokyo city had always been one of the busiest cities on the planet, at one time with a population fast approaching 13 million, and while there weren't as many as that now, the streets were always packed. Advanced aircraft constantly buzzed around the airspace, meaning that it was child's play for Sarah to enter the city undetected using the secret project she had stashed away for emergency use.
Designated "Project Seraphim", named for the highest choir of angels, was a form-fitting bodysuit, black in colour with silver trim. Its material was composed of similar material to the Ranger rigs, but with a couple of differences, the most noticeable of which was a pair of wings, large enough to bear her bodyweight attached to the back. It also possessed an advanced stealth technology, meaning that between the material, and the rig's small size, it would never appear on any scanner. Finding a dark, deserted alley, Sarah landed, finding somewhere to secret herself as she pulled her track suit out of a hidden compartment. Activating a switch on the side of her helmet, it disappeared, and the wings folded, retracting into the now-empty pack. Sarah pulled on her track suit, sipping up the jacket all the way to her throat to cover the bodysuit.
She checked quickly to make sure she hadn't been seen, before slipping out of the alley and making her way into the crowd on the streets.
She was amazed how easily she slipped into the city unnoticed. The citizens seemed oblivious to anything around them, simply going about their business and making their way with little or any thought for anything. Looking around, she noticed no one was even looking at her. Indeed, they weren't looking around at all. Everyone minded their own business and ignored everything else. While it would make her mission easier, she knew this was odd; humans were naturally curious creatures, constantly interested to find out what others were doing. It was why people were so interested in those so-called reality shows and fly-on-the-wall documentaries. So why did not one person even look in her direction?
Back in Corinth though, the others were standing around in Sarah's lab, checking the screens to see if there was any indication of where she could have gone, or what she was doing. They had known she had been upset ever since finding out about her past, but they still had no idea what could have possessed her to simply disappear.
"There's no sign of her anywhere." Gem said, throwing up his hands as he finished all the searches he could think of, short of using the satellite imaging system to visually search every square inch of the planet. For anyone else, they would have simply started searching the city, but all those searches had already shown nothing, and no one could write off what means the former Dr. K had at her disposal. It was not only possible she had left the city, but it was possible she could be anywhere on the planet. "I don't know what else we can do."
"Maybe we should call Scott." Tenaya suggested. "Perhaps he knows something."
"Scott's got his hands full right now; the others need him in Angel Grove." Hicks reminded her. "I know it sounds harsh, but if he knows about this, what do you really think he's going to do?"
"He'd come straight back to look for her." Summer sighed in response, realising he had a point.
"We all know how smart she is. If she doesn't want to be found, she won't be." Hicks reminded them. "We also know she isn't going to go anywhere unprepared, no matter how upset she is."
"Are you trying to convince us or yourself?" Gemma asked him, putting a hand on his arm. Hicks looked at her and replied a little too honestly.
"A little of both I guess." He murmured. "Look, until she lets us find her, there's nothing more we can do. Maybe we should just leave the scanners on here. The system will let us know if she sends a signal."
"So what are we meant to do? Go to the ceremony and drink champagne like nothing's happened?" Summer asked him a little incredulously.
"Summer, I care about her too, but this day is for all of Corinth!" He reminded her bluntly. "They already know that Scott, Flynn, Ziggy and Dillon are out of the city on a mission. If Dr. K doesn't show up, we can just say she was unwell. If none of us shows up, they'll know something's wrong. It could cause a panic."
Summer was about to answer, but she had to back down a little. He had a point. If none of them showed up to the celebration that was essentially in their honour, people would start to talk. It could lead to a panic that could set back all the work that had been done to rebuild the world. If the population thought there was something wrong with the people they were relying on for their safety, and more importantly, the woman who had been the architect of their new world, there was no way it wouldn't cause people to become nervous. He put an arm around Gemma and held her closely.
"I'm not saying don't worry, I know I am, all I'm saying is that we need to put in an appearance and make it look like nothing's wrong." He reminded them. "The system will let us know if anything changes, but right now, Corinth needs ALL of the Rangers."
Over in Angel Grove, Scott, Flynn, Dillon and Ziggy were sitting at a table in the underground command centre while Justin's dad checked over him. It had taken him a long time to get to Corinth, and he had used all the energy crystals he had to get there. His last one didn't have enough power to keep the dampener unit running much longer. Justin had told them he probably only had about another two weeks left.
As soon as he finished up, Justin pulled his t-shirt back on. As he went to the table to join the others, they saw Jason and Trini quietly talking to Mr. Stewart. The older man seemed decidedly upset, and they could understand why. As difficult as it was for Justin to be going through this, it was easily as hard on his father. He didn't just have to watch his son go through it, he also had to live with the fact that he had done it to him. It was his technology that was being corrupted.
"Aright guys, we want you to know what you're up against." Jason told them as he and Trini arrived at the table. Mr. Stewart excused himself from the room to go back to his work. "The cybernetic technology Mr. Stewart developed is a little different from the hybrids you're used to."
"From the schematics Dillon was kind enough to provide us of his own technology, we can tell that it isn't as advanced as the one Venjix used, he improved on the design." Trini told them, powering up an overhead projector and putting an acetate of both sets of blueprints on it. Scott and the others just looked at each other.
"An overhead projector?" Dillon asked them. "I haven't seen one of those since..."
"Your command centre is a custom-built state-of-the-art, military funded installation. Ours is the hand-built basement of a juice bar." Jason responded sharply. Dillon just gestured for him to go on with the briefing. "However, it is more dangerous in one respect. Venjix never intended his technology to be bonded to Ranger technology, so the two are not interlinked. Dillon's implants make it easier for him to use the Ranger rig..."
"Not that it's exactly hard, I mean I learned..." Ziggy chipped in, only to have Flynn nudge him in the ribs with his elbow. "I'm just going to shut up now."
"Anyway, as I was saying, the Venjix tech doesn't work alongside the Ranger tech." Jason continued, rolling his eyes at the younger Green Ranger. "However, in order to increase their power to match the supersized versions of the Venjix attack bots, Mr. Stewart designed his version to link them. When morphed, the rigs take additional power from the cybernetic technology."
"So these guys are tough." Dillon said, crossing his feet on the table casually. "So are we."
"With Venjix gone, there has to be a conduit that's putting out the control signal." Scott told them. "We've dealt with this before."
"One time it was Vasquez's cat." Ziggy chipped in, causing everyone to glare at him. "What? It was, Gemma told me so. She blasted the cat and everyone stopped going psycho."
"In Vegas, the conduit was in one of the Generals." Scott added, acknowledging what Ziggy had said. "If we destroy the conduit, we stop the signal and your friends go back to normal. We can worry about the tech Venjix used to channel the signal into their brains after they stop trying to kill us."
"So how do we find this conduit?" Trini asked them. "If one was inside a cat, then it obviously doesn't have to be big. Angel Grove isn't exactly huge, but it's still a hell of a lot of ground to cover for a transmitter..."
"I have an idea." Dillon interrupted her. "Mr. Stewart!"
Mr. Stewart came back into the room at Dillon's call. Dillon went to the projector, removing the schematics of the Space Rangers' implants, leaving his own. He pointed to the technology in the head. "This was all fried when Summer shot me with that control key, but the tech is still there."
"What are you getting at?" Mr. Stewart asked him.
"I want you to re-activate it." Dillon told him. Mr. Stewart looked alarmed.
"You can't be serious!" He shrieked. "If I do that..."
"I don't want you to wire me up to be controlled." Dillon told him. "It was wired up to the motor cortex and such like, that's how we're controlled." Dillon explained. They just stared at him. "When I was Venjix's lapdog, I downloaded all my files, I understand how all this works. Is it possible you could wire it in to another part of the brain, one that wouldn't control me?"
"It's possible." Mr. Stewart surmised. "What are you thinking of?"
"I use myself as a divining rod." Dillon explained. "Wire it into my pain centre. Then, then as the signal gets stronger, the closer I get..."
"The worse the pain gets." Ziggy concluded. "Dillon, that's..."
"Do you have a better idea how to find the conduit before Justin turns?" He asked him. All of the others looked around. It didn't sound like a great idea; it meant Dillon would be putting himself through tremendous physical pain in order to find the conduit. "Alright, Scott, you and the others worry about finding and containing the others before anyone else gets killed. Doc, wire me up. I need to find something the size of a ping pong ball in a whole city."
"So now we have to find and bring down five cybernetic Rangers." Scott stated as Dillon went with Mr. Stewart to the lab to have the procedure done.
"Four." Jason corrected him. "We already have one in isolation. It took everything we had to bring him in. That's why we sent Justin to find you."
"So four left..."
"I think you need to know what you're up against if you're going to be prepared." Jason told them. "Trini, take them to the holding cell and introduce them to Carlos."
Back in Tokyo, Sarah made her way through the streets without any kind of resistance. She eventually managed to find the address she was looking for.
Approaching the building, the headquarters of the Misawa Corporation, she checked a device on her wrist, scanning the building. It was, unsurprisingly, heavily fortified. Security surveillance covered almost every square inch of the building, and by the looks of it, all the streets and alleys immediately surrounding it. Pressure sensors, thermal scans, security doors and powerful computerised security systems covered almost every floor.
Most of all though, there appeared to be thousands of people in the building, a couple of hundred who all walked the floors in set, timed patterns carrying weapons. Security guards, a lot of them, all heavily armed.
"I guess they don't want visitors." She remarked, looking around for somewhere to get a better view. Seeing an apartment block on the opposite side of the street, she went in, and took the elevator up to the top floor. Getting out, she found the roof access. She quickly checked to make sure no one was watching, before placing a hand against the door. The fibres of the suit augmented her strength, allowing her to tear the lock open with ease.
Going up to the roof, she tore open the door there too, heading to the edge. Crouching down, taking cover behind the short wall, she called forth her helmet, acting telescopic vision to get a better look into the penthouse.
It was more akin to an art gallery than an office. Tapestries depicting ancient battles covered the walls, while sculptures, vases and ancient weaponry and suits of armour stood in place on the polished wooden floor. She couldn't have told accurately, but at a cursory glance, she would estimate the whole collection would probably have been worth billions. The office had a 360 degree view of the city, lined with glass on all sides. She could see in the centre, a desk where a surprisingly young looking Japanese man was sitting in an expensive suit, looking over some paperwork. Guards stood around the room every three feet. Zooming in, she saw one of them wearing a bodysuit she recognised from the time she was propelled into the future.
"Well I guess now I know how you kept Venjix from the door." She replied. "Unfortunately, GEARS or not, you have answers for me Mr. Misawa."
Taking off her tracksuit, stowing it behind an air conditioning unit and unfurling her wings, she broke into a run, launching herself over the edge.
Back in Angel Grove, Trini led Scott, Flynn and Ziggy to the holding cell they were using to contain the one Ranger they had actually managed to capture. She activated the key card, opening the door.
"You need to know what you're up against." She reminded them. "Please, be careful."
They went inside, at which they saw him, held to the wall by heavy restraints. He was a dark-skinned, muscular man, with long, wild black hair. He looked up at them, smiling as he saw them.
"It's always nice to see new faces." Carlos said in an insincere chuckle. "So what are you, my new waiters?"
"We're Rangers." Scott told him. "We're here to help you and your friends."
"I doubt my friends are the ones that need help little boy." He taunted him. "Nice hair by the way. I have heard that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery."
As the door locked, Carlos' restraints snapped open. He smiled as he saw this.
"Your new 'friends' obviously don't like you very much." He told them, reaching for his morper. "Let's Rocket!"
In another part of the base, Jason was watching the security monitor, observing the footage of the fight unfolding in the cell when Trini returned. She looked concerned.
"You know this is the only way." Jason told her. "If they can't handle Carlos, how can they expect to handle the others? TJ and Cassie might have struck out on their own, but Andros and Ashley..."
"I know their union makes them deadly." Trini sighed. "I just wish we didn't have to do this."
Just then, Dillon came staggering into the room, clutching his head. Mr. Stewart followed him, looking like he was already regretting his decision to perform the procedure.
"Dillon, are you alright?" Jason asked him. Dillon just nodded.
"I just woke up; it just takes a little getting used to." He informed him. "God, my head is killing me."
"Are you sure you're up to this?" He asked him. "Justin could come with you..."
"The others will probably need him. I'll be faster on my own." Dillon replied, shaking the cobwebs clear. "At least we know it works."
"Just stay in contact. If you need us, let us know." Jason told him, showing him his power coin. "It's been...well...let's just say a long time, but I'm not exactly helpless."
Dillon saw the screen and went over, looking on as his friends battled against Carlos. He looked back to them.
"I see what you mean about them." He responded.
"Are you...?"
"They'll be fine." Dillon assured them. "I need to get going."
"Just be careful alright?" Trini begged him. "We can't afford to lose you."
"Hey, careful is my middle name, just ask Ziggy." He replied with a smile forced through the throbbing pain in his head. "If you'll excuse me, I have a conduit to find."